NRICH is a project which enables
children to become
better problem solvers.
And this is a really key skill.
They're going into a world which is ever
changing, but we do know
that children who can solve problems
especially unfamiliar problems, will thrive.
Our aim is to nurture young
mathematicians and we do that
in a number of different ways.
We have a website where we put up free
mathematical resources for teachers to
use in the classroom
and for students to access independently
and we provide
professional development opportunities
for teachers so that they can hopefully
learn the best ways to use our resources
with their students.
As a teacher I don't have time
every week to sit down with
colleagues to devise new problems.
So there are teacher notes to support the
teacher, there are training
courses to support teachers,
there are live problems for pupils to
work on knowing that
their answers, their solutions
might appear on the website in future
knowing that they are high
quality materials that have
been thought about incredibly carefully
and thoroughly knowing
that they've been trialed.
The whole package in terms of supporting
teachers with problem
solving and using problem solving
in the classroom is just perfect.
Problem solving is really important
because it allows you to take
skills that you learn in the classroom
and then apply them in
your everyday life.
NRICH helps me to incorporate problem solving
into my classroom and to
my teaching by first of all
having these lovely rich tasks and the
resource for me is the most
important part. The resource
does the teaching for you almost
particularly the interactive resources
where my students can
move things around and they can organise
their own thinking.
NRICH gives them the opportunity to
also develop their positive attitudes to
the subject for example
being more curious about
mathematics, being resilient when faced
with the challenge they can't
immediately do. They will be
forced to think okay I understand the
maths that's going on
here but I don't necessarily
immediately understand how to apply it so
I'm going to have to
think in a strategic way or
I'm going to have to record my thoughts
in a clear coherent way that
will allow me to build up a
picture of the problem.
They are more resourceful
because they've got those
tools at their fingertips
and finally we encourage children to work
together to collaborate
on mathematical ideas.
And that we really get from NRICH tasks
in a way that you don't get in other
more straightforward mathematical tasks.
I would say if it's not a part
of your practice it really should be.
I don't think there's a better
resource out there than NRICH.